Vehicle.



B. J. DIPLOCK.

VEHICLE.

APPLIoATIoN FILED JULY 1, 1912.

Patented May 19, 1914.

B.v J. DIPLocK.

VEHICLE. Brummen FILED JULY 1, 1912.

Patented may 19, 1914.

riollL B. J. DIPLOCK.

VEHICLE.

APPLIOATIOH num JULY 1, ma.

1,096,893. l Patented May 19, 1.914

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

B. J. DIPLOGK.

VEHICLE.

APPLIUATION FILED JULYl, 1912.

Patented May 19, 1914 6 BHEBTB--SHBET 5,

` BRAMAH JOSEPH DIPLOCK, OF FULHAM, ENGLAND.

VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 19, 1914.

Appiicatin mea July 1,4 19121 serial No. 707,135.

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, BRAMAH J osnrri Dir-Looi, a subject of the'King of Great Britain, residing at 3 )Vyfoldroad, Munster road, Fulham, in the county of Middlesex, England, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Vehicles, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to vehicles of the well known' type which aresupported on endless chains offeet running on rails carried by the bodyof the vehicle. According to the present invention each foot is carrieby the lower end of a rod the upper end of which is suspended from theapex of a carrier. The sideway play of the foot required when thevehicle is turning is` obtained by the movement of the rod within thecarrier while the tilting of the foot is provided for iii its connectionto the lower end of the rod. Each carrier may be provided with rollersrunning on the rails but preferably it has pivoted toit two or moreslippers which bear on roller chains running on the rails. According tothe present invention such chains have springs interposed between therollers.4 This allows the slippers to run at slightly different speeds-and thus obviates the loss by friction which necessarily takes placewith an inextensible roller chain. When the chain is relieved frompressure the springs bring the rollers back to their` normal ositions atequal distances apart. According to the present invention also suchroller chains are made with two sets of rollers preferably at rightangles to each other and runnin on two rails so that the chain isprevented rom moving transversely in any direction without the use offlanges and loss by flange friction is avoided.

.Figure 1 is 'a diagrammatic side elevation of a motor vehicleconstructed according to this invention. Fig. 2 is a part elevation ofone endless chain of feet with the mecha nism connected therewith. Fig.3 is a similar side elevation (to a larger Scale) showing only a singlefoot. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan of the foot (Fig. 3). Fig is a Viewmainly in section on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4 with some parts omitted.Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6, Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and 8 are partlongitudinal vertical sections the planes of section being indicated bythe lines 7-7 and 8-8, Figs. 4 and5. In Fig. 7 all the parts behind theplane of section are omitted and the sprocket wheel which is in front ofthe lane of section is shown in dotted lines. n both figures the innerrails Q and .many other parts are omitted. Fig. 9 is a diagram showingthe inclination of the rails. Fi s. 10 and 11 are respectively asectional s1 e elevation and a sectional plan (both to a larger scale)of one of the upper chains (Figs. 3 and 5), and Figs. 12 and 13 aresimilar views of one of the lower chains. Figs. 14, 15 and 16 show oneof the plates forming the links of the chain Figs. 10 and 11. Fig. 17shows a modified arrangement of carrier, rod, foot and springs. Fig. 18shows a modified arrangement of slippers and chains. Figs. 19, 20 and 21show one of the plates forming the links of the chain, Fig. 1 8.

The body 1 of the vehicle, Fig. 1, is divided into two halves pivotedtogether at 2 the vehicle being steered in the well known way by turningone half relatively to the other about the pivot. Each half of the body1 is supported by springs 3 on two wooden frameworks 4 to each side ofeach of which is fixed a frame the two pairs of frames being supportedon two endless chains of feet 5.

As shown at Fig. 2 each frame consists of channel bars 6 to which therails 7 (or 8) and 9 (see F igs. 3 and 5) are fixed. The rails 7 and 8are of cross shaped section while the rails 9 are angle bars. Each footcarrier consists of a bell 10 having two arms 11 projecting from itsbottom. Each arm 11 has at its end two bearings 12 to receive a pin 13which forms the pivot of a slipper 14. Interposed between the rails 7and 8 and the slippers 14 are double roller sprin chains 15 which willbe hereinafter described with reference to Figs. 12 and 13# 16, 16'arebosses projecting from the upper part of the bell 10 and acting as uidesfor the pins 17 (Fig. 5) projectingv ownward from the underside of theplate 18. 19 are compressed springs bearing on nuts 20 fixed to the pins17 and on the upper bosses 16, these springs therefore tend to draw thelate 13 downward, the motion being limited by the bosses 16. The plate18 has fixed to it bearings 21 'to receive the pivot pins 22 of theslippers 23. Interposed between the slippers 23 and the rails 9 aredouble roller spring chains 24 which will be hereinafter described withreference to Figs. 10 and 11. It will be seen that the ei'ect of thesprings 19 is to draw the slippers 14 and 23 toward each other and holdthem in contac-t with their roller chains and '5 the roller chains incontact with their rails.

Since one slipper 14 is in advance ot' the lother it is necessary (inorder to hold the bells vertical and the feet horizontal as they areapproachingthe ground as shown at Fig. 2) to bend the rails 7 and 8 tothe form shown diagrammatically at Fig. n9 which is to the same scale asFig. 2. 1t will be seen that the two bottom feet in Fig. 2 arehorizontal and the two pivots 13 of the slipper 14 of each foot -areconsequently in the same horizontal line. New it must be remembered thatthe left hand slipper of each foot is running on the front rail 7 whichis seen while the right hand slippers are running on the back rail 8which is hidden. It therefore follows` that the part of the rail 8immediately above the right hand pivot 13 is at the same level as thepart of the rail 7 immediately above the left hand pivot 13. Hence theform of the rails shown at Fig. 9:-any horizontal line will cut therails 7 and 8 at points a distance apart equal to the distance betweenthe pivots 13 of each foot. It will be seen that the form of the frontand rear parts of the rail 7 are the same as those of 'the rear andfront parts of the rail 8 so that all four of the frames on which eachhalf of the vehicle is supported are exactly the same, two of them beingsimply turned end for end relatively to the other two.

The' method of suspending the foot 5 from the`\bell 10 is best seen atFig. G. 25 is a rod passing out through a hole at the apex of the bell.2G is a nut andl 27 a washer on the rod 25, a spring (not shown) beingpreferably interposed between the nut and washer. The underside of thewasher 27 is spherical .and tits into a spherical recess at the top ofthe bell. 28 is a second nut on the rod 25 the top of which has aspherical recess in it to receive the spherical underside of a Washer 29the to of which bears against the apex of the bel. 30 is a compressedspring surrounding the lower part of the rod 25 and of the nut 28, itsupper end bearing against a flange on the nut. The lower end of the rod25 has a head 31 fixed to it. The head 31 is received in a recess 32 inthe foot 5 being kept in place by a cover plate 33 fixed to the toot.y

The recess 32 is larger than the head 31 so that the foot can tiltrelatively to the rod 25 but since the top of the head 31 bears againstthe underside of the cover 33 while the spring 30 bears on the top ofthe cover,

the foot is normally kept at right angles to the red. Each side of eachhalf of the vehicle is normally supported alternately n an odd and evennumber offeet (as shown at Fig. 1

the number is alternately two and three) and y the power and compressionof the sprlngs 30 should be such that even when the lesser number ofsprings is in action their length is not affected by the load but whenowing to any inequality of the ground the vehicle is supported on aystill less number of feet then the sp1-ings 30 are further compressed toallow the other feet to touch the ground.

As shown at Figs. 4 and 6 the spring 30 and rod 25 is prevented fromswinging forward or backward in the bell 10 by guides 51 but it is `freeto move to and fro transversely. Fig. 6 also shows the way in which thebells 10 are connected together. `34 is a link pivoted to the front ofone bell and 35 is a link pivoted to the rear of the adjacent bell. 36is a plate connected by the reds 37 to the link 34 and 38 is a platefixed to the link 35. 39 is a compressed spring tending to force theplates 3G and 38 apart. 40 is a sleeve surrounding the link 35, its endsabutting against the plates 3G and 38. It will be seen that with thisarrangement the two bells can be drawn toward each other by the spring39 but are prevented by the sleeve 40 from separating for a greaterdist-ance than that shown. The carriers should be at their maximumdistance apart when pass ing around the sprocket wheels.

Figs. 2, 7 and 8 show the sprocket wheels 41 at the ends of the frames.These sprocket wheels engage with pins 42 (see F igs.vv 3, 4 and' G)fixed to the sides of the bottoms of the bells.. As is clearly shown atFigs. 7 and 8, the sprocket `wheels 41 and rails 7 and 8 are so formedthat the slippers 14 are separated from the chains 15 and thearrangement is such that the slippers are simultaneously separatedfromthe two chains of each bell in spite of the fact of onev slipperbeing in advance of the other. The pressure on the roller chain 24 is atthis point re' lieved by the rail 9 being so formed that the chain is incontact only with the slippers 23 when the Vcarriers are engaged withthe sprocket wheels. The object of thus separating the slippers 14ffromthe chains and the chains 24 from the rails is' to allow the springs ofthe chains to act and. bring -any rollers which may have been displacedback to their normal positions at equal distances apart. Figs. 7 and 8each show one set of slipperspbut thevv positions. of the pivots of theother set are alsoindicated. ,As shown the middle part of each slipperis only slightly concave but preferably the concave ity should beconsiderablyl greater and suiit cient to insure that the slipper isalways in contact with at least two rollers one on each side of itspivoteven whenlit is traveling in a curve.

The construction of the spring chains 15 is shown to an enlarged scaleat Figs. 10 and 11. Each roller is connected to the roller on one sideof it by two exactly similar bent plates 43 (one of which is shown atFigs. 14 to 16) the two plates forming a box in which the spring` 44 isinclosed. Each roller is connected to the roller on the other side of itby two plates 45 similar to but somewhat narrower than that shown atFigs. 14 to 16. 46 is a spring` inclosed between the plates 45. Thespring chain Q4 is shown at Figs. 1Q and 13. Its construction is similartothat of the chain 15 but in this case one set of rollers is smallerthan the other.

The details of the invention can be variedin many ways. For example Fie.17 shows one of many possible modifications of the way in which the footcan be suspended from the bell while Fig. 18 shows diagrammatically oneof many possible arrangements of the rails, slippers and spring chains.In Fig. 17 one end of the compressed spring 30 bears against andnormally holds the rod at right angles to the top of the carrier whilethe other end bears against a nut 47 fixed to the rod 25. This rod has arectangular head working in a rectangular recess in the apex of'the bellso that it is prevented from turning axially. 48 is a cup on the nut 47and 49 is a compressed spring bearing on the cup 48 and the cover plateIn this case thecover plate 33 has a spherical recess in it to receivethe spherical washer 50 on the lower end of the rod 25.

In Fig. 18 the bearing surfaces of the rails and slippers in place ofbeing horizontal and vertical are inclined. There is also only a singlerail 9 and slipper 23. In this case in order to allow the chains to bendin going around the ends of the frames it is necessary to cut away thecorners of the plates of which they are made as shown at 19 to 21. Inthis case also when the carriers are upon the sprocket wheels theslipper .23 separates from its chain and the other chains separate fromthe rails 7 and 8.

, 1. The combination of a foot carrier, a slipper on the carrier, arail, and a spring roller chain interposedbetweenthe slipper and therail.

2. The combination of a foot carrier, a foot pivoted to the carrier, aslipper having two bearing faces also pivoted to the carrier, a railalso having two bearing faces, and a roller chain havlngtwo sets ofrollers in different planes interposed between the slipper and the rail.

3. The combination of a foot carrier, a slipper having two bearing faceson the carrier, a rail also having two bearing faces, and a springroller chain having two sets of rollers in different planes interposedbe.- tween the slipper and the rai-l.

4. The combination of a foot carrier, a slipper concave at the middle onthe carrier, a rail, and a spring roller chain interposed between theslipper and the rail.

5. The combination of a footI carrier, a slipper having two bearingfaces on the carrier one of the said faces being concave at the middle,a rail also having two bearing faces, and a roller chain having two setsof rollers in different planes interposed be tween the slipper and therail.

6. The combination of a foot carrier, a slipper having two bearing faceson the car rier one of the said faces being concave at the middle, 'arail also having two bearing faces, and a spring roller chain having twosets of rollers in different planes interposed between the slipper andthe rail.

7. The combination of an endless chain of foot carriers, slippers on thefoot carriers, a rail, a spring roller chain interposed between theslippers and the rail, and means adapted to engage with the carriers andseparate the slippers from the spring chain.

8. The combination of an endless chain of foot carriers, slippers on thefoot carriers, a rail, a spring roller chain interposed between theslippers and the rail, and means adapted to engage with the carriers andseparate the spring chain from the rail.

9. The combination of an endless chain of foot carriers, slippers eachwith two bearing faces on the carriers, a rail also having two bearingfaces, a spring roller chain having two sets of rollers in differentplanes interposed between the slippers and the rail, and means adaptedto engage with the carriers and separate the slippers from the springchain.

10. The combination of an endless chain of foot carriers, slippers eachwith two bearing faces on the carriers, a rail also having two bearingfaces, a spring roller chain hav-- ing two sets of rollers in differentplanes interposed between the slippers and th'e rail, and means adaptedto engage with the carriers and separate the spring chain from the rail.

11. The combination of an endless chain of foot carriers, a pair ofslippers pivoted to each carrier one slipper of each pair being inadvance of the other, a pair of nails, spring roller chains interposedbetween the slippers and .tne rails, and means adapted to engage withthe carriers and separate the pair of slippers of each carriersimultane-l ously from the spring chains.

12. The combination of an endless chain of foot carriers, a pair ofslippers pivoted to each carrier all the slippers having two bearingfaces and one slipper of each pair being 1n advance of the ot er, a pairof rails each also having two bearing faces, spring roller chains eachhaving two sets of rollers in different planes interposed` between theslippers and the rails, and means adapt- 3 CYA ed toengage with thecarriers and sepa-4 hold the feet stationary relatively to therods, andlinks connecting the carriers together and pivoted to them at pointssituated below the pivoted ends of the rods.

l5. The combination fof an endlessseries of foot carriers, rods pivotedto the oarriers, 'feet pivoted to the rods, springs surrounding the rodsand bearing agalnst the` feet, such springs being sulioiently compressedto normally prevent the feet from rising relatively to the carriers butcapable of being further compressed, and links connecting the carrierstogether and pivoted to them at points rbelow the pivoted ends of therods.

16. The combination of an endless series of foot carriers, rods pvotedto the carriers, feet pivoted to t-he rods, springs tending to hold therods stationary relatively to the carriers and rails guiding thecarriers and situatedl below the pivoted ends of the rods.

17. The combination of an endless series of foot carriers, rods pivotedto the carriers, feet pivoted to the rods, springs tending to hold thefeet stationary relatively to the rods, and rails guiding the Carriersand situated below the pivoted ends of the rods.

18. The combination of an endless series of foot carriers, rods pivotedto the carriers,

feet pivoted to the rods, springs surround-A ing the rods and bearingagainst the feet, suc-h springs being suiieiently compressed to normallyprevent. the feet ilrona rising relatively to the carriers but capableof being further compressed, and rails guiding the carriers and situatedbelow they pivoted lends of the rods. y y

19. AThe combination of an endless series of foot Carriers, rods pivotedto the carriers, feet pivoted tothe rods, springsl tending toy hold therods stationary relatively to the carriers, and slippers fixed to thecarriers at points situated below the pivoted ends lof the rods. w j

20. The combination of an endless series of foot carriers, rods pivotedto the carriers,

`feet pivoted to the rods, springs tending to hold the feet stationaryrelatively to the rods, .and slippers fixed tothe earriers at pointssituatedvbelow the. pivoted" ends ofv the rods. l v

21.. The combination of an endless series of foot carriers, rods pivotedto the carriers, feet pivoted to the rods, springs surrounding the rodsand bearing against the feet,

such springs being sufficiently compressed to normally prevent the feetfrom rising relatively to the carriers but capable of being furthercompressed, and slippers fixed to the carriers at points situated belowthe pivote-d ends of the rods. v

22. The combination of an endless lchain of :toot lcarriers, a railforming a guide for the` carriers, feet pivotedtothev carriers, springalways tending to draw adjacent carriers toward each other and. meansfor limiting the separation of the carriers.

Y BRAMAH JOSEPH DIPLOCK. lVitnesses H. D. JAMESON, C. P. LIDDoN.

